Hello, crafty friends! I am joining you today as a Scrapbook.com Holiday Deal Insider. What does this mean? Well, the amazing team over at Scrapbook.com has given me an extra sneaky peek at all of the holiday 2021 freebies starting now through New Year’s, so I can play and create with them and let you know what I think in time for you to snag the freebies for yourself once the deal goes live. This is pretty darn amazing, and I am drooling at all of the wonderful things coming. To ensure you don’t miss any of the deals (because they sell out quickly), then please subscribe to get blog post updates. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and soon YouTube as well! This week’s freebie (while supplies last) is the “Christmas Tree Topiary” die set designed by Spellbinders exclusively for Scrapbook.com.
If you have any dies from the Spellbinders Open House die collection, then you may want to snag this one, because it’s an excellent match. You can see from this Holiday Hostess Tag Trio I posted a little while back how great of a match it is.
Okay, let’s get to making! The first thing I did when I opened the die set up, was to comb through my tag dies to see which one would work. I ended up settling on the rounded top tag die from Carta Bella.
Next, I went to town die cutting. I used the Peppermint & Rainbow Glitter paper pads from Scrapbook.com. These paper pads are my go-to for die cutting and come in A2, slimline, and 6×8 sizes, so you can pick whichever works best for you crafting style.
For one of my trees I wanted more contrast, so I simply used a domed ink blending tool, and pounced over the bottom layer with Pine Needles Distress Oxide. It gave a really cool wispy effect that’s a bit difficult to see in photos. I think Rustic Wilderness, Iced Spruce, and Lucky Clover are a few other awesome Christmas tree colors if you have those.
Once I created my little die cut buffet, I mixed and matched all the pieces until I had combinations I liked. For the silver tree, I really wanted a third shade of blue, but the Rainbow Glitter Paper Pad only had two, so I used an alcohol marker to create a custom shade.
To jazz up the background a little bit, I flicked a bit of Pure White and Metallic Frost reinker onto the tags using a water brush. Note: The water brush I use is an old one I now use just for this purpose, so I don’t contaminate my actual watercolor palettes with pigment and sparkle. If you don’t have an old water brush, then I would suggest a fan brush which is made specifically for this technique.
For a bit of dimension, I added foam adhesive between each of the layers of my tags.
Once all the pieces were stuck together, I went back and added loads of bling I found min my stash. My faves for this are the silver, gold, & iridescent gems from Spellbinders, Sparkletz star (and heart) shapes, colorful packs from Honey Bee Stamps, and the gem & pearl combo packs from The Paper Boutique.
I also added coordinating eyelets to each tag and a bit of twine.
Once your tags are done, you can simply pop them onto a bag of treats like this one…
…or tie them around a gift box filled with something like chocolate bark as I did for this one. The possibilities are near endless!
If you’d like to check out more photos or a full supply list, please visit my gallery post where I’ve linked to all the products used in this tutorial as well as this week’s freebie, so you don’t miss it. I’ll be back again soon with another project to share with you. Until then… stay crafty! – Laura Evangeline
Laura Evangeline 
